"Don't send refugees back to inhumane conditions"

The not-for-profit organisation 11.11.11. has attacked co-operation accords between the EU and African nations that allow migrants to be sent back. The organisation says that refugees are being sent back to detention centres in countries like Libya where they live in inhumane conditions.

Tue 29 Aug 2017 12:04

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Bogdan Vanden Berghe: "Europe is exporting its border controls to dubious regimes that have scant respect for human rights. Some of the deals are paid for by international development aid and this violates European values. Strengthening such regimes is bad for the region and will only result in more refugees."

11.11.11. is calling for more attention for the causes of migration e.g. climate change, armed conflicts and famine. Bogdan Vanden Berghe: "You can't send migrants back and say they are no longer our problem. Too little is being spent on tackling the causes of migration."

Belgian asylum secretary Theo Francken is a keen supporter of co-operation agreements with countries responsible for the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe and defends co-operation with governments in these regions: "In these areas there are only regimes where human rights are a problem. If you avoid doing business with regimes that violate human rights hundreds of thousands of migrants will soon leave triggering chaos."

Mr Francken urges action because the situation is destabilising Europe: "If you make it clear to people that buying a ticket off a people smuggler doesn't give free access to the EU, then the flow through the desert and originating deeper in Africa will stop."